ILYA MOROVETS, A UKRAINIAN FOLK HERO WHO BECAME A SAINT

According to the church calendar on the 1st of January Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of St. Ilya Morovets (also known as Ilya Muromets, Moroveyan, Ilya Chobitok), a Ukrainian folk hero of the Kyevan Rus' times.

According to East Slavic medival epic poems Ilya Muromets was a "bogatyr" (akin to a knight-errant). In the legends he is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich.

According to legends, Ilya Muromets, the son of a farmer, was born in the village of Morov (today Morovsk village, Chernigiv region, Ukraine), other sources write he came from the settlement of Karacharovo near the city of Murom (Russian Federation), however, the chronicles indicates that the bohatir had got to Kyiv for about a day, which is an evidence in favor the first version. The legend tells he suffered serious illness in his youth and was unable to walk until the age of 33. Moromets could only lie on an oven, until he was miraculously healed by two pilgrims.

However, Kievan chronicles is not the only source where we can find mention of the folk hero. Historians came across his name in one of the letters of a Kievan nobleman Philon Khmita, dated year 1574. Erich Lyasiota, an Austrian diplomat mentioned the bohatir's name in his descriptions of Kyiv of late XVI century, noting that Ilya Moromets was buried in the the St. Sophia Cathedral. Athanasius Kalnofoysky, a monk of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra mentioned the name of bohatir Liya Morovets among those buried under the monastery in the Anthoniy Caves. Back in the XIX century Morovets was mentioned in folk epic books as an "ancient cossack." 

According to bylinas Ilya Morovets was a knight at the court of Prince Volodimir. His image reflects the archetype of a warrior, who realized his true life vocation in adulthood, climbed down from the oven, and dedicated his life to the king and people defeating evil. But it is about a folk tales hero. As for the historical person of Ilya Morovets, he lived a little later - in the XII century. In 1643 Morovets was canonized as a saint by the Orthodox Church, and his incorruptible relics are buried in the Kyivv-Pechersk Lavra Catedral.

by ZENTROPA UKRAINE